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The more important tax aspect of a transmutation agreement is the effect that it has on basis step-up (or step-down) at death. If the spouses had held the property separately in joint tenancy with a right of survivorship, the surviving spouse would automatically receive his or her half of the property by operation of law through the original ...
Community of Acquests and Gains: Each spouse owns an undivided half-interest in all property acquired during the marriage, except for property acquired by gift or inheritance during the marriage, which is separate property; or which traces to separate property acquired before the marriage, which remains separate property; or which is acquired during a period when the couple are permanently ...
This is most common in states with community property laws. This means that a surviving spouse must pay the debts of the deceased spouse using jointly-held property, such as a home.
Typically, such property is treated as if it were community property at the time of divorce or death of a spouse, but in California, at least, property acquired while married and domiciled in a non-community property jurisdiction does not become community property just because the married parties move to a community property jurisdiction.
Separate Property with Equitable Distribution: Under this system, when substantially more property acquired during a marriage is owned by one spouse (e.g. title to all marital property is held in the husband's name only), the courts will make an equitable distribution of the richer spouse's property at death or dissolution of the marriage.
The homestead exemption is a legal regime to protect the value of the homes of residents from property taxes, creditors, and circumstances that arise from the death of the homeowner's spouse, disability, or other situations. Such laws are found in the statutes or the constitution of many of the states in the United States.
In an exception to the statutory expansion of the legal rights of married women, the California Constitution of 1849, drawing on the community property tradition of Spanish civil law rather than the common law tradition, distinguished a wife's property from community property: "All property, both real and personal, of the wife, owned or claimed ...
The intestacy laws of certain American states, limit the surviving spouse's rights (inheritance) to the deceased spouse's real estate to a life estate. Louisiana, applying civil law, has a similar default provision in intestate successions called a usufruct, which is only over community property and ends with the earlier of death or remarriage.